Every summer since moving to Idaho five years ago, My wife and I have made a trip back at least once a year. This year being no different, we loaded up our suitcases and headed back to Ashland, Ohio for a 12 day visit to all our family and close friends. As with most trips back, we faced a big agenda of visiting loved ones, and it seems that every time we go we end up more anxious to move back than before. I'm sure this has something to do with the nostalgia of our hometown and the comfy feeling of the small town life. But in more ways than one, this trip seemed to be resonating with the sound of coming home. Not only to our hometown, but to my "home" for outdoor lifestyle that I'm passionately pursuing the best I can. There was a great race at Mohican to do, a fantastic bike ride through amish country, and of course a brief reprieve from parenthood while Michelle and I stayed at the Landoll Castle. Before we jump into the story, here's a picture I just had to share from my "heat" acclimation I had been doing before traveling back east at the beginning of the recent heat wave they have been dealing with. It was 90+ degrees the day I ran my last long run before heading back. Needless to say, the kiddy pool was as close as I could get to a dip in a mountain stream, but it was refreshing none the less.
Flying across the country with two small kids is a test of endurance all by itself. Upon arriving we were immersed into the whirlwind tour to see as many people as we could, and see the most important ones more than once... it was exhausting but good. I took a break from the tour the first Saturday morning to race the Mohican Xterra 19k. The profile for this course looks basically like a sawblade. No real flat sections, very technical, and very steep. I managed to run almost exactly 8 min/mile pace for the roughly 11 mile race, finishing 6th overall and 2nd in the under 39 age group. Not a bad race by any means. Then it was back to the tour...
About halfway through the week, my little daughter, Kara, learned to give kisses. In fact, she's basically growing like a weed and learns something new everyday, its going to be hard to go back to work in a week. 
In between touring families and trying to sneak in some running, My father-in-law, Mike, and brother-in-law, Stoffer, were able to take off on a bike ride through rural Ashland and Wayne County, Ohio. As would be the case, I neglected to take the camera along for the ride, which is probably just as well because if anyone saw how beautiful the area is it would become overridden with yuppies and granolas and the vibe would be lost. As it is, the only thing separating me from riding this area everyday for the rest of my life is about 2000 miles and 3 days by car to get there. Someday though...The tour also took a break long enough for Michelle and I to head back to our honeymoon spot, Landoll's Mohican Castle, for a 1 night get-away. We stayed in one of their more toned down rooms, which wasn't exactly what I'd expect from the Castle, but nevertheless, the company was excellent and the food was good so it was a blessing to be there. Next time I am bringing trail running shoes along as well. Miles of trails surround the Castle and I intend on exploring them at somepoint.
I cannot continue to say how good it was to be "home" in Ohio. Myles loved being around his grandparents, swimming at the great-grandparents' pool, and playing outside at the Stoffer's home. He discovered bubbles and spent a few hours perfecting his bubble-stroke.
Each time we go back, its hard to leave, but then again, its good to be back to our "home" in Idaho. The humidity was suffocating, and we left at the beginning of the heat dome that settled into the area for some time. We had some great times with family and cannot wait to see them again. For now, Idaho is where we live, but our hearts are with family and friends back in Ashland, Ohio.
We headed up to Glacier View Campground and arrived shortly before 4 pm. On the way up, we decided that our best chance to nab a great hike was to go right away and so from about 4 to 6:15 pm we hiked and ran up the Alpine Way Trail from the Redfish Lake trailhead. It is a pretty gnarly trail that gains 900 feet or so in less than a half mile and then levels out along a beautiful ridgeline for quite a ways until it veers north towards Marshall Lake. We hoped to make it to Marshall lake but it really was too ambitious given the amount of snow still up high. In many places we were bushwacking along the trail because several feet of snow still covered the actual trail. Eventually we got to the point where the trail starts to turn North and decided that we should head back before it got to be too late. Before we headed down, we stopped for some photos. I could look up the names of these peaks, but for time sake I'll just let you know they are pretty awesome to see in person. 
As the night settled in, the lack of any clouds whatsoever allowed the temperature to drop quickly and we decided to hit the sleeping bags early. My only regret of the trip was not getting up to see the stars that night, they were surely magnificient and I'm bummed that I missed them. That feeling was quickly dissipated by this awesome shot I got in the morning Friday.
The plan on Friday was to hang out and rest, but it wasn't long before we were out exploring near the camp and found some interesting sights, but most of them wouldn't really qualify for blog worthiness content, however, they served to entertain and more importantly, Stoffer and I got to have some of our favorite old contests; skipping stones (most and farthest categories), precision stone throwing (pick a target and hit as creatively as possible with a rock), log hopping across the lake outlet (only one wet foot for me).
(Sam in his element)
(Team Bazinga! minus Cynthia and Joe; Sam, Stoffer, Me, Bill, and Mike)
After we finished our run and Sam started the fire with his um... lighter, I decided to try and take a dip in Redfish lake. Let's just say that the water temperature was slightly warmer than the North Pole and I made it to my waist and decided to just soak the lower half for ten minutes rather than go completely under. I wished to be clean, but not to be hypothermic so an lower leg ice bath was an appropriate compromise.
Everyone ran super strong all morning as we managed to stay in 3rd position all the way over the summit of Galena Pass. I was really excited to run the mountain this year, I felt strong as I ran up, but was definately limited by the altitude and managed to run 8:30/mile up the 1300'+ of vertical in about 5.3 miles. It was a challenge I would love to try again someday, but next time I run this race, I really want to run down the pass, it seems that would be a bit more fun...
By the time we were on the homestretch of the race, we managed to pick up a friendly rivalry with another team. They were out to get us, but we just managed to stay ahead until the last leg where I was chased down by a sub-15 minute 5k running chick with knee-high socks and not much else on. I ran sub-6:00/mile on the final stretch, but she just was too tough for me on that day. Everyone on the team ran strong all day and we managed to come home with 1st place in the Men's division. All the teams that beat us were younger, faster, and in some way were involved with an organized running team (high school or college). It felt awesome to come home with a first place award after taking second last year. Our time was 4 minutes slower than last year's, but we faced a stiff headwind for the last 3 legs that I think accounts for that difference in time. In conclusion, it was a race to remember, but the weekend itself was even more memorable. The team had great chemistry this year and we had no weak links. It will be fun to see how everyone does as they pursue their personal racing goals this fall. I am incredibly thankful and blessed to be able to share this race with the people I did.
(Chris Stoffer, Me, Bill Rupp, Mike Lapp [with baby Evie], Cynthia Lapp, and (not pictured) Joe Terrazas made up our team. Sam Collier was our amazing volunteer, and Michelle and Rebecca did the babysitting duties for all the little ones.)
Bring on GALENA! (overlook, 4 miles up the mountain, more on this picture next week)
I was a bit disappointed that I didn't pull out the win, but who can complain about a 12 minute PR (1:26:38) and second place overall. Mike finished with a good race himself, just breaking 1:34 at 1:33:59 and 5th overall. Oh, and Mike's Dad Richard busted out a 15 second PR as well, coming in around 1:59 and change. 
